Digest : Local News in Brief : Part of Room Tax Will Go to Aid Homeless
The Los Angeles City Council Tuesday unanimously approved a proposal by Councilman Joel Wachs to use a portion of the city’s 10% hotel room tax to provide additional housing for the homeless.
Currently, anyone checking into a hotel or motel in Los Angeles must pay a 10% tax on the room rate. The tax money is used to finance city services like police protection.
Wachs’ proposal, approved tentatively by the council, would also exempt the federal government from paying the tax on rooms provided to the homeless under a voucher program. The United Way coordinates the program in which about $300,000 worth of federally funded vouchers are provided annually to homeless people for lodging in designated motels and hotels.
The Fiesta Motel in North Hollywood, a part of the Valley represented by Wachs, will become the first Valley motel to participate in the voucher program next month.
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